Point of View
by emerald-jade
Summary: mara/luke. but this is from a point of view of someone from mara's tinted past(no its not the emperor!). someone who's gonna be real hurt when he finds out the truth.


Disclaimer. Any recognisable character don't belong to me (I wish they were! Then I'd be rich!! Mwaaahaaahaaahaaa) so don't flame me or sue me or kick me or punch me or ....  
  
POINT OF VIEW  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Zev Senesca leaned back into his seat as the stars rushed beyond his sight, an indication of his ship back in hyper-space, back to civilisation, at last. After 11 years, there's just so much rurality a man could take. Besides its just time to finally reap some bounty from the government he had helped to establish (in his own way of course).  
  
It was good to be heading back to the comforts of civilized space. 11 years was a long time, no matter how profitable. Now Zevv is coming back from the Unknown Space a rich man, thanks to the spice trade he had established with a system eager to exchange their abundant and useless supple of glimmerstym for the comforts of technology from the core.  
  
Zev had been deprived of news for a long time except for the minimum and rushed reports from his contacts in the Outer Rim. He preferred to keep his investment safe by personally undertaking the Administratorial duties of his ever increasing operation. But now that he had finally found a manager worth his salt in Brienta, he can finally take a breather and inspect his assets from the other end.  
  
Zev was once a Rebel. He became one when his family was killed by the imperials during a raid in the Bestine system. Along with his former partner Klause, they wrecked havoc among local Moffs on whichever unlucky planet they may have chanced upon. But one mission stuck up from the rest, the retrieval of a certain red-head and the pivotal information which ultimately led to the end of the Empire and the rise of the Rebellion. That mission had imprinted itself into his mind. A special friend died that day, one that he had tried to find 2 years after the event and still thought about constantly, of what could have been had circumstances been different. There had been many people in Zevv's life but the one he'd lost was the one who left the most dent. Well another day, another life. He checked his chrono and realized it was almost time.  
  
He activated his comm station. Though his coordinates weren't quite near enough to give him a clear line to Coruscant, it was enough to connect to the Ukio system. He silently laughed to himself, Klause, a farmer? Never in a million years would he have thought that that arrogant son of a nerf would be. Well that's what marriage does to you, mellows you down. He wondered if he would have done that. Settled down for a life of peace and quiet to be a good husband and father. A life without mines collapsing on hired help, pirates stealing shippings, irate politicians who can't just get enough and the excitement of not always knowing if your gamble would bring more luck or bring down the house for the trading operation.  
  
He saw a small flicker of the comm unit, a holo projection. Klause must be making serious money. He punched the button to put the call through. A man's image floated to greet him.  
  
" Long time no see Zev. Its so good to see you." Klause said welcome evident in his voice.  
  
" Its been a long time huh? You look different" he greeted Klause. And indeed he was. Klause looked older now but with an inner shine of contentment coming through.  
  
" And you look almost the same as the last time I saw you. How have you been my friend?"  
  
" Good. This visit's a bit of an impulsive decision. You're the only one I've notified. I was wondering if I could stay with you for a while, just long enough to sort out an accomodation." Zev asked.  
  
" You have always been impulsive Zev. Let me guess, you havent even thought of a place for a Base of Operations yet have you? But of course u can crash with us in the farm." Klause looked happy enough. They had kept in touch through occasional messages throughout the years and after all they've done together they hadn't really separated.  
  
This time Zev did smile, " Some things never change, Klause, remember that. But its really a good feeling coming back to the place I grew up in. it feels like I'm coming home from a really long holiday, you know?"  
  
Klause grinned too, " I know."  
  
" Well, yeah." Zev avoided being emotional, he detested being emotional. So he diverted to a more mundane topic " Er. So what's been happening in this crazy galaxy anyway. I received news that the NR and the Empire just signed a peace treaty. Pretty far fetched story."  
  
Klause laughed this time, hard. " Still the same Zev. Mr 'Diversion is the name for discretion'." Klause then sobered up, but there was a hint of a hilarity in his eyes. "Anyway its not just a story. Gavrisom and Palleon just signed the documents for a cease fire a month ago. So it is a bit quiet here."  
  
" Really? Wow, finally, peace at last."  
  
" Yeah, and the buzz around here is that the marriage of the Rebellion's greatest hero and a high ranking former Imperial agent sealed the treaty. And...er..ahh!" Klause exclaimed. Now all signs of laughter was gone from his eyes. He looked like a man who just lost his best miner.  
  
" What? What is it?"  
  
" There's something I have to tell you. But better when we're face to face, huh? It's kinda important."  
  
Zev was reluctant. " Well OK, if you say so. Nothing really bad is it?"  
  
Now Klause gave a sheepish grin. " Didn't mean to sound too down on you pardner. No ,nothing bad, well depends how you view it anyway."  
  
" Well I'm less than 3 days away. Ill meet you at the spaceport , yeah?"  
  
" Yeah. I'll see you then."  
  
" Say hi to Yuli for me and tell Greig I have the full set of the M-T30 droid all for him. OK?"  
  
" Yeah, I'll tell them. I'll see you in a few days. Ukio Out."  
  
" Jaded Out."  
  
................  
  
2 days later  
  
Zev was woken from his light sleep in the when the ship shuddered out of hyper-space. He knew something was wrong, hugely wrong, specially if an Interdictor-class cruiser is involved.  
  
" Great." he said in exasperation. Not even a week in the region and he's already being dragged to trouble.  
  
He sat down the pilot seat and adjusted his restraints and the auto-pilot sequence to manual over-ride. Zev's ship is a heavily modified Anxarta- Class freighter. Antique definitely, but with the modifications he'd personally placed backing up the twin laser cannons and the turbolaser cannons, this freighter is formidable in combat situation.  
  
But the burst of energy, probably coming from a turbolaser cannon, just came out of nowhere, startling the pilot and activating the grating alarms all over the ship. It also activated one of the laser cannons by accident, directly hitting and destroying one of the smaller ships which was positioned to take a clear shot at the ship who looked like it was the victim. Zev shut off his cannons and tried to manuever out of the crossfire and when far enough swung back to see the battlefield. From what his reading told him, the 'fleet' he's assume was attacking, was a rag-tag group of bounty-hunter ships. He'd already ID'd a half of them. But, Force know's where they got their hands on an interdictor, it seems their target was important enough who deserve all those preparations.  
  
Their hapless victim was some kind of luxury yacht with none-reflective gray hull. This ship, he couldn't ID. Zev considered helping the outnumbered and outgunned yacht but his sensors told him that his hyper- drive was burned and that sub-light engines where only functioning at 45%. Even his weapons are currently down. Probably overloaded. The one who fired at him did a real good job, and just one shot too. Zev let lose his vocabulary of extremely colorful phrases. Looks like he's down for the count.  
  
And speaking of count, the yacht seems to be having a field day out there. The yacht, moving with unbelievable grace and speed was taking out one ship at a time. The pilot wasn't taking any chances. He seemed to have everything under control.  
  
And then suddenly there were just three ships left out of 8. One of them the cruiser. The others looked like their engines and weapons had been put out of operation and was just floating in space while the pilots try frantically to do some repairs. Zev felt relieved, it looks like the pilot could handle himself and his ship against a whole fleet with his fancy flying. And then it was over. The Interdictor was disabled, and the ships escaped into hyperspace as soon as a window of opportunity was opened.  
  
Zev assessed his damage. With only sub-light engines on operation, his only hope was if someone with a big enough ship would drop by or if he limped to the nearest spaceport to affect repairs. According to his navi-computer, the nearest, the Harana Systems, was just half a day away in his current speed. Luck, it seems was on his side again.  
  
Zev tried to open a channel to the other ship. He was pretty sure the pilot doesn't regard him as an enemy, since he technically saved his life, however accidental he went about it. He only received static. His comm unit was fried too, he could only send and receive written typed communications. Might as well. But he had to be careful. No one, except Klause and family knew that he was coming, he had to maintain anonymity.  
  
/ You still whole in there? / he greeted.  
  
/ Yes, thank you for the save, by the way. Although, our hyper-drive seems to be having some trouble. / was what he saw on his comm screen. He noticed that the pilot didn't give his name or the name of his ship either.  
  
/ Mine too. I'm heading for the nearest shipyard to have it repaired. Anything I can help you with?/ he asked untruthfully.  
  
/ No thanks. I think I can handle it. My hyper-drive just came on-line. I'll see you around./  
  
/ Yes./  
  
/ May the Force be with you./  
  
/ And with you./  
  
The ship then turned and exited into hyper-space. Zev didn't bother trying to vector the ship, he doubted he would see him again anyway. He busied himself instead with downloading the coordinates of shipyard on his navi-computer.  
  
..............  
  
13 hours later  
  
After a gruelling haggling session with a touchy official on the ground, Zev finally began preparation for touch down. The shipyard looked busy and judging by the touchiness of the official there seems to be a bit of fanfare going on around there. Probably a celebrity.  
  
The touch down sequence was smooth. Now all he had to do was find somebody in this chaos willing to fix his ship before he turned gray. Fortunately credits weren't a problem. But he probably need to drop Klause a line. He may need a few days to fix it.  
  
When he disembarked from his ship, he immidiately knew he'd be here for at least a couple of days. The air was festive and light. Everyone seemed exited including the visitors, but most specially the locals.  
  
Harana is a fairly populated system, but the main planet of the system itself is a self preservating one. Their main economic crutch comes from their tourism industry. Harana is a beautiful planet composed mainly of glacier topped mountains filled with ancient catacombs which towers over the few green plains, densely populated by the locals and hotels. Those same holed mountain ranges which is extremely popular with visitors for their physical beauty and recreational values. A perfect vacationing spot. The only problem was the locals. The Haranians are small, beings with spindly arms and legs , fluttery webbed wings, skins of varying shades of yellow and pointed faces. Two things makes the Haranians memorable, one, that they have unusual eyes. Instead of having two like most beings, they have four, two normal ones and two on stalks above their heads, two, they are terrible gossips. Everyone of them seems to know everything in the galaxy, from unconfirmed rumors of marriages between celebrities, to important concealed information from the Republic. The fact that the planet, as well as being a hot tourist spot, was a major Communication Relay Station don't seem out of place. There's nothing else a Haranian likes than spend all day exchanging gossip.  
  
Zev walked through the crowded spaceport, everyone seemed to be in a state of excitement, even the numerous tourists seems to be swept by it. Zev shook his head, he'd better find a mechanic soon or he'll be here all week. He looked up and made a bee line straight for the first official looking spaceport worker he saw.  
  
" I need some repairs." Zev said immidiately. The worker, who had his face shoved into the datapad he was reading, fluttered in surprise. "Izz , I am iver zzo zzori, mizzter..Zzzenezca, izzn't it?"  
  
Zev was unsurprised. Heck, he was impressed! "Yep! Now about my ship.."  
  
"Yezz, yezz. We are aware of the problem with you're zzhip. We have zzint for a michanic already and the work will be finizzhed." he consulted his datapad '.in three dayzz time."  
  
" Three days!" Zev sighed with relief. He expected longer. The port must be very well equiped to be able to handle a job like this. Now all he had to do was drop Klause a line and find something to amuse him while he's here.  
  
" Thatzz the earliezzt we can make it, zzir. I am iver zzo zzori. Meanwhile, would you like me to arrange your accomodationzz for you? Or iven maybe a tour of the famouzz Catacombzz?" the Haranian said apollogetically.  
  
"Just the accomodations, thank you. I'll find my own entertainment."  
  
"Yezz, Yezz. Please can you come back in half an hour to collect you're rezzervationzz in the main offizze building. Everything will be zzet for you. Izz there anything ilzze I can help you with?"  
  
"'Yes. Can you tell me what's all the fuss about? Everyone seems exited."  
  
"'Yezz, veri ezzited. There izz a veri important perzzon who landed juzzt half an hour ago, very very important perzzon. The Prime Minezztra izz coming down to meet with her himzzelf."  
  
" Must be a politician then. Right, I'll be back for those reservations as soon as I get something to eat. Thanks." And with a last wave, he turned on his heels with the single-minded purpose of finding himself something edible to eat.  
  
Zev kept himself within the crowed at all times, warily looking around, out of habit than anything else. Then out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of something familiar. His heart jumped. He looked around.  
  
It wasn't there. He strode to the general direction, frantically looking around. There was a large crowd in front of him, all laughing, clapping and whispering to each other at the same time. He shoved himself to the front, convinced that what he was looking for was somewhere within the throng. He ignored the curses directed at him as he squeezed his considerable bulk between the crowd. Then he saw her.  
  
His heart stopped.  
  
His breath caught in his throat. She was alive. .............  
  
For a while he just stood there, staring at her. The same emerald eyes, the same abundant red hair, the confident stance. It can't be, he saw her die. It just can't be.  
  
His mind tells him that it can't be her, that he knows she's dead.  
  
But his heart knew it was her.  
  
Mara Jade.  
  
Someone bumped into him. Bumped him back into reality. Mara was surrounded by a gaggle of richly dressed Haranian's and other species. Then he remembered what the spaceport worker told him. She must be the 'very important person' they were all excited to see.  
  
Zev doesn't know what to think. And before he can think properly, he shouted "Mara!" loudly.  
  
Several people looked at him. They were startled. Heck, he was surprised! But even against the constant humming of conversation around him, she somehow heard his call. She turned her head to his direction and he knew, definitely, that it was her. That she was really alive and somehow became such an important person, she was greeted by all fanfare when she landed.  
  
He saw in her eyes, puzzlement at first, then recognition, then a hint of sadness before a cold mask replaced it. A polite mask for the media and politicians alike.  
  
Her entourage continued walking. He stood there as the crowd surrounding him slowly dispersed, remembering a certain 2 months 13 years ago. He was jolted back to reality when he felt himself being tapped in the shoulder. He jerked around to see a man, holding out a note for him.  
  
"This is for you." He said quietly.  
  
"Thanks." He said woodenly as he reached out to receive the note. He read it.  
  
Zev,  
  
Its good to see you again. I have so much to tell you, to apologise. Don't worry, I'll see you soon.  
  
MJ  
  
"What does she mean by .." But the messenger was gone.  
  
............  
  
Zev checked in the hotel. Appetite gone, he headed straight for the holo station installed in his room. He needed to talk to someone.  
  
"Hey Zev, I didn't expect to hear from you this soon. Hey buddy, what's wrong, you look pale." Klaude said worriedly.  
  
" You knew didn't you? You knew and you didn't tell me." He said accusingly. Keeping his anger tightly in check.  
  
"you must have heard huh?" Klause sighed.  
  
"Heard? No, worse. I've seen her. She's here. And she's alive!"  
  
"What was I suppose to tell you? Listen, I couldn't believe it either when I saw her. It's a long story and I intend to tell you personally. Where are you? I'll come straight away. You have you have to understand."  
  
Zev sighed, anger deflated in the face of Klause's reasoning.  
  
" I'm in Harana, registered under my real name in the Kerma'a-lblat hotel in the southern hemisphere. I'll see you later."  
  
" Just stay there. I'll be there in the morning. Rest. Get some sleep."  
  
" I think I will."  
  
Tbc..  
  
After word:  
  
This fic is a point of view fic. As you notice from the title. Zev and Klause aren't my character. I borrowed them from a fanfilm I watched which happens to be quite good. Its called 'The Dark Redemption' if you haven't seen it check it out in theforce.net. this may take a while but im now currently working on the next installment. Any review would be welcome. PLS PLS PLS.I want a review!!!  
  
And did I tell you guys that this is my first fic? So be gentle with me. Tee hee. 


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